Pregnancy & Oral Thrush
Oral thrush is a yeast infection in your mouth caused by the Candida fungus. Candida is a naturally occurring yeast fungus in your body that usually does not cause any symptoms unless it starts to multiply out of control. Yeast can grow when the body's hormonal or acid/alkali balance changes during pregnancy.
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Candida Fungus
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The same Candida fungus that causes vaginal yeast infections causes oral thrush. Both of these types of yeast infections are common during pregnancy due to hormonal changes in your body.
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Symptoms
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Oral thrush symptoms include white or yellowish spots on the tongue. Your tongue may bleed and feel painful. To confirm that you have oral thrush, your doctor should scrape your tongue and send it in to a lab for testing.
Complications
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If thrush is not treated, it can spread down your throat and make it difficult to swallow. This can lead to malnutrition, which can harm mother and baby during pregnancy.
Treatment
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Thrush is treated with oral antifungal drugs that your doctor can prescribe. Eliminating sugary foods form your diet may help in controlling oral thrush. The yeast fungus multiplies in a sugary environment from a diet high in sweet sugary foods. Reducing foods high in processed sugar may help.
Yogurt
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Acidophilus and yogurt contain a good bacterium called lactobacilli, which balances yeast. Acidophilus pills are available in capsule form as well.
References
- Photo Credit "becks bump" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: meemal (Naomi) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
